12. A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 9: The Carnivorous Carnival

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 9: The Carnivorous Carnival
By Lemony Snicket (Pen Name for Daniel Handler)
HarperCollins, 2002
Narrated by Tim Curry

Genre
Gothic Fiction

Awards
None known

Review

This is the ninth book in a 13 part series that follows the Baudelaire siblings, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, along a literal series of very unfortunate events that befall them.  Count Olaf and his odd troupe are still trying to find the Baudelaire's so they can likely kill two of them and capture the third to get their hands on a fortune left to the children by their parents.  The children must disguise themselves as circus freaks to fit in at a circus in the middle of nowhere.  The siblings spend their time at the carnival trying to escape and solve more of the mystery behind their parents' deaths before Count Olaf feeds one of the "freaks" working at the carnival to a group of recently acquired lions.  Handler creates a world where adults are ludicrous, caring more about the entertainment provided by "freaks", sloppy eating, and murder than the legality of the situation.  The children's guardian of sorts, Mr. Poe, is eternally inept causing the children to constantly try to escape Count Olaf on their own.  In contrast to the ridiculous adults, the three children are extremely smart and resourceful.  Handler also has a mysterious running side-story with the "author" Lemony Snicket who is supposedly chronicling the "true" tale of these children.  Their story somehow intertwines with his own unhappy circumstances, a mysterious organization named V.F.D., and a loss of his true love Beatrice.  The audiobook is satisfactory, with enough voice distinction to follow the characters and the narrator; there are orchestral inserts to introduce each chapter, played by The Gothic Archies created specifically for these audiobooks.

Opinion
This whole series is Gothic and dark, possibly disturbing some younger readers.  There is, however, dark comedy in how absurd the adults are in the face of all the children's problems.  Despite a lack of moral compass in many adults, the children maintain their own morals and struggle with having to do things that are wrong in order to ensure their survival.  I have read the previous books; this is the first book in the series I have listened to the audio of and I was disappointed.  I found the reading to be adequate if not lackluster, and I found the music irritating, abrupt, and distracting.

Ideas
This books shows many instances where the children must rely on their own skills to get out of situations.  Adults can show tweens that adults are not like this in reality - there is always someone they can talk to whether it's their parents, teachers, police, etc.  On a more positive note, this book has a lead female character who is an imaginative inventor, a role mostly taken by male characters.  Handler also instills a love of books through Klaus, an avid reader and apt researcher.  Children can learn that whatever their skills may be, they can be useful, especially when combined with others.